The rhythm of the heart
by chloemcg
Summary: One-shot. A young adult Rafael goes to his favourite event in all of Rio, Carnivale, and he ends up meeting a very special bird who changes his life forever.


**Disclaimer: I do not own any character from Rio, the rights to it belong to Blue sky studios and not me.**

 **I own absolutely nothing.**

 **The rhythm of the heart**

* * *

 _The lights, the music, the sights, the scents, the tastes..._

 _There was truly nothing like it._

 _Everything about this time of year was irresistible to many of the birds of Brazil, but lots of the birds from Rio de Janeiro could all agree that nobody loved the festivities of Carnival like one single bird does —as a matter of fact, it had even been rumoured that this bird was obsessed with the celebration. Whenever anyone needed any information on Carnival then this bird was the one to go to since he knew almost everything there was to know about the biggest party in the world._

 _He was a toco toucan named Rafael._

 _The young, adolescent toucan had absolutely adored the event._

 _The loud sounds of Carnival blasted through the air as lights danced about the streets below and cheers from the people were even louder whilst, up above, the skies were pitch black and were dotted with stars, but the sky was slightly smoggy due to the fireworks shooting upwards and exploding multiple times. Confetti rained down from above, drifting along a bit in the slight breeze that slivered by in the festive atmosphere._

 _Rafael overlooked the festivities by letting his azure blue talons grip onto a telephone pole wire, allowing him to perch upright with his back straight yet he craned his neck to get a better view of the grounded festivities. He started to sway his shiny, black tail feathers in time with the Samba-themed music that was playing in perfect harmony with the floats that passed on by. He couldn't resist the urge to close his eyes and start humming in time with the music gliding through the air._

 _He felt his heart pounding in perfect harmony to the music that played._

 _He moved his vocals up and down to make his throat produce a sound akin to the song._

 _Samba drums continued pounding, trumpets kept tooting, flutes twittered and saxophones blared._

 _Humans, birds and animals alike danced around._

 _Confetti kept falling like raindrops and fireworks shot up into the sky and exploded into a multitude of colours._

 _Rafael found it created a nice atmosphere._

 _Then the song changed from samba and jovial to slow and romantic._

 _Rafael stopped humming and froze when he heard something. It was an odd sound and he didn't know why it drew his attention so lightning fast but he could tell that it sounded like distant squawking —it was a sound that pleased his ear holes, especially since it harmonised with the song currently playing._

 _He started to become curious._

 _What could be making such a strange yet lovely sound?_

 _That was when he saw something absolutely stunning, the most beautiful creature covered in feathers. He was vaguely aware that the romantic song started to croon in the background as he lay his eyes upon the most spectacularly stunning bird in the universe._

 _Rafael's jaw dropped and his eyes widened whilst he felt his pulse slow down. His heart jumped from his chest high into his throat, he felt as though time stood still; he had never saw anything look so beautiful, so elegant and so enchanting. His wings fell to his sides as a dumbstruck expression flashed across his facial features. He took in her slender physique, her rich hazel eyes, her creamy, red-rimmed belly, her dark ebony feathers, the way her head feathers were slicked back and her purple-tipped, green, peach beak._

 _She looked so lovely...!_

 _Rafael was floored by her beauty, his heart was beating like the drums of Samba._

 _If it were biologically possible he would have totally started to sweat buckets right now._

 _The lovely toucan had been accompanied by a group of other keel-billed toucans, just like her, but Rafael found that the most beautiful of them all would have to be the smaller female right in the middle of the group —the lovely bird he had his eyes on._

 _It took him no time at all to realise that the lovely female was the source of the sound he had heard moments before. The stunningly lovely keel-bill started to sing really loudly and, to anyone who wasn't a Rafael, it sounded like a shrill type of squawking that was very much off-key and sounded similar to a cat being dragged through a car engine._

 _All the birds in the area, including the group of female keel-bill toucans each shot her looks of disgust and embarrassment as they discreetly moved away from her side whilst she got lost in her blissful singing state. The graceful toucan swayed her hips from side to side whilst she twirled lightly upon her talons, oblivious as she sang her heart out, her squawks not even being overblown by the fireworks exploding in the darkened skies above._

 _She raised her head high as she stretched her vocal chords to the near limit._

 _But didn't take long at all before she was all alone..._

 _When she ceased singing completely and realised that she had left all by her own, she couldn't help but frown as tears gathered in her eyes and she glanced down sadly. She looked so downright depressed as she gazed down at the parade that still went on down below, the world otherwise uncaring of the drama unfolding._

 _Rafael's racing heart sunk as he felt sympathy settle in the pit of his stomach._

 _Why had everyone moved away from her? She sounded lovely to him...it was heartbreaking to see such a sad look on such a lovely face, and he hoped that he could make it so there was no hint of sadness on her beak again. Perhaps she just needed some company._

 _Without a seconds thought or hesitation, the toco toucan flapped his wings and took to the air as he flew straight over to the over side of the banners, across from where he had perched and observed her for the passed couple of minutes. He felt his whole body thump with anxiety as he approached the saddened keel-billed toucan and he couldn't keep his flapping wings from shaking even a little bit, it even caused some of his lingering baby feathers to come loose and flutter to the ground below._

 _Rafael swallowed hard, trying to erase every trace of fear overwhelming him, as he finally landed and perched himself right next to the upset bird. He could sense the upset aura emanating from her and he felt his own heart break just a little bit more when he saw tears pouring out of her magnificent hazel brown eyes and then trailing down her beak and dripping down towards the alit ground and it was enough to make the young adult male's stomach clench in response._

 _"Hey..." Rafael finally decided to break the silence that brewed between both himself and the upset female toucan, "...Are you alright, Senhora?"_

 _The female gasped in shock and instantly jolted up whilst she amended her posture, straightening her spine, making a swift attempt to dry her eyes. It was obvious that she hadn't notice Rafael's presence until he spoke up and she almost felt her heart jump out of her chest from the purest form of shock and terror she had ever felt. She raised a wing and used the tip of her primary feather to wipe away some of her lingering tears and she forced a smile on her beak._

 _"A-Ah! Uh, um, I am alright...o-o-obrigada,"_

 _Yet another awkward silence had brewed between the male and female pair of adolescent toucan as they glanced up at the skies above them, watching the fireworks go off in a marvellous display that only fireworks could create. The skies were popping and practically exploding with a rainbow of colourations, and that was the only sound that disturbed the two._

 _It was five more moments until Rafael looked down at his own two blue talons and pondered on what he could do next. His throat had felt as though it had been tied into a knot, his tongue felt dry, he felt the need to huddle his wings as close to his body as possible, his mind became almost as blank as paper and he was becoming increasingly sure that he was sweating bucketloads of sweat. He couldn't even move a muscle...or this was the case was until he found the strength to mutter the very first thing that came to his mind._

 _He finally gathered the courage to look over at the bird._

 _"I...I happen to th-think that your singing is wonderful."_

 _The female toucan couldn't help but whip her head around to look at Rafael with pure astonishment. She appeared to look as though she thought that he had been joking, as if she had never heard a single compliment on her singing voice. Rafael felt his heart break just a bit more at the thought but stuffed his feelings of sympathy deep, deep down inside of him. He supposed that it was his turn to be polite and start things off with a a nice, pleasant and fair introduction._

 _He softened his expression and didn't hesitate a moment longer._

 _"I'm Rafael." He smiled warmly, extending his wing out for her to shake._

 _Eva sniffled, smiling back at him as she took his wing and shook it vigorously._

 _"My names Eva..."_

 _It was at that precise moment that both Rafael and Eva took notice of the music playing in the background and it had sparked something between them. The two looked deep into each other's eyes and felt their hearts pound in their chests in a simultaneous rhythm and both walked towards each other, minding the wire they perched upon and they both took hold of each other's wings._

 _Rafael decided to sing along to the rhythm of his heart, the background music adding some accompaniment._

 **" _Tall and tanned and young and lovely,_**

 ** _The girl from Ipanema goes walking..."_**

 _His tone was soft and quiet, a rich sort of dulcet voice. He loved this song and he shook his tail feathers and happily melted in the embrace of Eva and he even looked to the bird by his side._

 _He wanted to do nothing but take to the air and fly, he felt so featherlight._

 _Eva hesitated for a moment but smiled when she realised that she had some of her confidence returned to her, giving her a small amount of strength to shut her eyes, raise her head to the sky yet again and then sing as loud as she could...even if it was badly off key and reverberated through the air, making every single bird and human in the area cringe due how loud her squawking was._

 _Eva sang loud, almost louder then earlier._

 _"_ ** _And when she passes, each one she passes goes, AAAAAAAAAAH!"_**

 _Rafael, though, swooned as he sighed out of pure adoration._

 _"Like river of the sweetest honey."_

* * *

"And that was how I met your mother..." Rafael finished telling the tale of how him and his mate met to their now-sleeping brood of eighteen hatchlings.

The toco toucan had taken to nestling himself right next to Eva as the two parents glanced warmly down at the eighteen babies sleeping comfortably right in front of them. They each slept on their sides and curled into little black balls in various places around the nest as they slumbered nicely, they were so adorable as they slept and mumbled incomprehensible nonsense in their respective sleeps.

It was a sight that warmed the hearts of both of their parents.

The little toucans had been begging for a bedtime story to help put them to sleep and the two parents were more then happy to oblige and chose the most obvious choice for a bedtime tale ever in regards to their relationship. It was crazy to tell them any other story other than the one of how the two lovebirds literally fell for each other.

Eva closed her eyes and snuggled up against the love of her life, she sighed comfortably.

"That was the best day of my entire life, you know..."

Rafael smiled in a heartfelt manner, his heart warmed up and furled his wings around her to envelope her in an embrace out of pure affection. He felt her lean into his chest with the side of her head and he instantly felt his heartbeat begin to slow down. He placed his beak down and planted a delicate kiss on her forehead.

"Mine too, meu amor...you know I love you more then life itself, don't you?"

Eva nodded, her eyes closing.

"Of course. And I love you just as much, my pudgy papaya."

* * *

 **A/N: HAPPY 2019 EVERYONE! Its time to celebrate the new year and this is one of the ways I can think of how to celebrate properly. This is how I think Rafael and Eva got together, I think they need some more love and I thought that I should souly focus on them for this fanfic one-shot.**

 **I hope you enjoy this, guys.**

 **-Chloemcg**


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